Aftercare Resources

Serving Dane County since 1922

SUPPORT GROUPS

Gunderson Funeral Home feels that Support Groups can be an important help to those going through grief. They are not for everyone but many individuals find comfort in realizing they are not alone in the grief they are feeling. Many people tell us they are “not good in groups”, but some of these same individuals find, after taking the risk to go to just one meeting, that it is a good place for them and others there understand. Here are some selected support groups in Dane County.

General Grief Support Groups:

Journey Through Grief: Seven weekly sessions. HospiceCare 276-4660

Grief Stepping Stones: Three educational and support series. HospiceCare, 276-4660

The Circle of Weavers*: for younger women (under 55) call Judy Koeppl – 258-7771*Gunderson Funeral Home underwrites THE CIRCLE OF WEAVERS a support group for young widows. It meets at The Center For Life & Loss Integration on the first Thursday of each month.KAYRA: Support, activities, social gatherings for widowed persons – Marion 222-8514

This is a very brief listing of support groups. Please feel free to call us for more details on the groups listed above and/or information on other groups you may be looking for. Gunderson’s have a list of over 75 support groups in this area so hopefully there is a group that may be most helpful to you and your family members. Ask for one of our Aftercare staff: Judy Koeppl, Kate Ford Roberts or Linda Colletti. They would be glad to talk this over with you and help you to select an appropriate group. They also are available to talk with you over the phone or to make an appointment to talk with you in your home

SUPPORTING LINKS

CENTER FOR LOSS AND LIFE TRANSITIONA private organization dedicated to furthering our understanding of and compassion for the complex set of emotions we call grief. Dedicated to helping both the bereaved, by walking with them in their unique life journeys, and bereavement caregivers, by serving as their educational liaison and professional forum.

CRISIS, GRIEF AND HEALINGA place where men and women can discuss, chat or browse to understand the many different paths to heal strong emotions. Resources on the site include excerpts from author Tom Golden's books on healing from loss.

GRIEFNETGriefNet is an Internet community of persons dealing with grief, death, and major loss. They have many email support groups. Their integrated approach to online grief support provides help to people working through loss and grief issues of all kinds.

WILLOWGREENA leading provider of information and inspiration in the areas of illness and dying, loss and grief, healthy caregiving, life transition, and spirituality.

GRIEF AND LOSSGrief support information and resources from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Gunderson Funeral Home maintains a small library of Grief resources for individuals and families to purchase or check out to read or watch. We know that getting good information on the grieving process is an important help in understanding grief and finding ways of coping with it. We hope these resources help in your grief and loss, to comfort and provide hope and healing. We have a number of books that we recommend. There are so many good books and we try to have a number of these books in stock for either purchase or to check out. The price to purchase the books is at or below cost. If you check out a book, please fill out one of the sheets and date it. We would ask you to try to return the book within 3 weeks and a video within 1 week. We will call to remind you if it isn’t returned by that time. Thank you for your consideration in thismatter. The following are books we keep a stock of for purchase:

A general book on grief and the grieving process:

The Courage To Grieve by Judy Tatelbaum

$5.00

A workbook on Helping Yourself Through Grief:

Grief’s Courageous Journey by Caplan and Lang

$10.00

2 Helpful books for Children in their grief:

Helping Children Grieve and Grow by Donna O’Toole

$5.00

A Child Remembers by Enid Samuel Traisman

A helpful book for teenagers going through grief:

Facing Change by Donna O’Toole

$5.00

Some books to help with the loss of an infant, stillbirth or miscarriage

We want to suggest that you also check the Compassion Books catalogue at Gunderson Funeral Home Grief Library. There are over 300 books listed on grief and loss, with each one having a description of the subject matter covered in the book. The persons at Compassion Books are very good about getting books right out to you when you order them either on line or over the phone. We also want you to know that our grief counselors are also available to help you with selections of books and videos and to talk about them with you if you wish. Feel free to come in or call Judy Koeppl, Kate Ford Roberts or Linda Colletti at 608-221-5420.